Thoughts on Dynamax so far?

[shoz999]

Thoughts on Dynamax so far?





So a lot of what I'm about to say is based on Dynamax in its earliest days, around a week from launch. In my opinion, I like Dynamax a lot that Dynamax doesn't feel like a gimmick. It feels like a natural step forward for Pokemon battles in terms of a power-boost that offers a new layer of strategy and unpredictability while also refining a lot of the flaws of Mega Evolution and Z-moves.

So Dynamax is great to use offensively and defensively in battles, the MAX moves are powerful that they can break through the move Protect and similar moves like King's Shield but they are nowhere as powerful as Z-Moves, MAX moves often being in the 90-130 BP range. They also add a effect to your Pokemon, increase in stats or a change in weather adding further options to the battle and that's one of the things I love about Dynamax, it adds more freedom to the battle in what your Pokemon can do while also not specializing a specific Pokemon in mind like Mega Evolution or more recently, Gigantamax.

On the defensive side of things as far as I'm aware of, Dynamax Pokemon have a slight increase in health and are immune to certain move effects, most notably flinching. So for me, I love using Dynamax as a counterattack option. There have been countless times I have saved a Pokemon that would normally be one-shot by powerful Pseudo-legendaries, only to counterattack. It feels satisfying overcoming the odds on not only powerful Pseudo-legendaries like the new Dragapult but also the opponent's own Dynamax Pokemon.

A Dynamax Pokemon's greatest defensive option is arguably the MAX move, "Max Guard" which is essentially the perfect "Protect" move against all moves including MAX Moves. At least until I hear how it works against Infiltrator. This is not only a great option to defend your Dynamax Pokemon from another Dynamax Pokemon but also to stall and waste the opponent's Dynamax Pokemon turns. The best counter in my opinion against other Dynamax Pokemon, outside of potentially KO-ing it, is to stall it for unlike Mega Evolution, you can't just abuse Dynamax whenever you want. Dynamax isn't immune to status effects and it has a 3-turn limitation which helps balance the amount of freedom, unpredictability and power that Dynamax offer. Even losing one Dynamax turn can be threatening as the player should know that his opponent can also Dynamax and it basically becomes this game of who can utilize Dynamax better. Not only that but because of this 3-turn weakness, I've seen moves like Fly, Dive and Phantom Force more often than I've ever seen, especially Phantom Force because of a certain dragon, and exploiting this 3-turn weakness can be very devastating to the Dynamaxed Pokemon as having and losing a Dynamax Pokemon can determine the outcome of the match greatly in the same way having and losing the Queen of a chess match can determine the outcome of the match greatly and I like it.

I love the freedom, unpredictability, the power and the limitations Dynamax has that there has been times I said to myself, "You fell for my Trap Card!" whenever the opponent thinks he's got the advantage over me and that seems to be the main concern with the competitive fanbase over Dynamax. It has the power of Mega Evolutions but the unpredictability of Z-Moves. Whether or not this unpredictability lasts as the fans figure out the meta, I don't know but I'm loving the unpredictability and overcoming that unpredictability during my online matches and I hope Dynamax continues in future generations based on what I've experienced so far.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Huge step backwards in my opinion, and I was no fan of Z-Moves. I'll post a more detailed post later, but what I like the least about Dynamax is the fact that the Pokemon who benefit the most (Excadrill, Gyarados, Hawlucha among others) were already top-tier threats before Dynamax. Mega Evolution lifted Pokemon like Kangaskhan and Pinsir out of absolute obscurity. Z-Moves were also unbalanced, but at least Pokemon who just barely fell outside the parameters of viability (such as Kommo-O and Victini) received just enough of a boost from them to have a viable niche. Many top-tier threats also weren't the best Z-Move users, although nearly anything was capable of making good use of them on the right teams.

I actually hold the exact opposite opinion of you; Dynamax took everything wrong with Mega Evolution and Z-Moves and kept them, and tossed out everything that made them interesting and healthy for the game.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Meh, the games would have been better off if it went back to the basics without the battle gimmicks that started in gen 6.

 

[DeadshotRogue]

They should have just continued Mega Evolutions.

 

[Ignition]

I've always hated it since its announcement. The fact that they're like a mixture of two features I did enjoy doesn't help. Doesn't look fun to battle against either based on what I've seem from Smogon. At least it'll most likely be abandoned in Gen 9 like they do with most of their features is fine with me.

G Maxes are cool though

 

[TheWanderingMist]

It's great fun, and I pretty much agree with everything you say. Takes out the limited appeal of Megas by allowing everyone access, and downgrades Z-Moves to less of a one-shot nuke and more of a very solid blow.
I have a problem with how Gigantamax was limited to basically Kanto and Galar, though.

 

[Zoruagible]

It's fun but not as great as Megas are, definitely better than z-moves though!

My main issue is the whole matter of not every Corviknight for example can Giga, only ones from a Raid.... that just takes away from the whole 'raise your Pokemon from the start of the game' appeal. Plus.... only one shot at catching a Giga, then you got to start the search again. Freaking Drednaw's broken out of a ultra ball 5 ****ing times now on the first shake.... yet I got Grimmsnarl and Butterfree straight away. My point is Gigamax shouldn't be restricted to Raid Pokemon, maybe give some actual meaning to Dynamax leveling and say when it's maxed your Corviknight can go Gigamax but before then it's just a giant Corviknight? But you can go and catch a Gigamax Pokemon if you'd rather skip all that?

Oh, and I'm not a fan of how it was mostly Kanto Pokemon..... at least Unova actually got something this time. But Kanto needs to take a seat!

 

[shoz999]

It's fun but not as great as Megas are, definitely better than z-moves though!

My main issue is the whole matter of not every Corviknight for example can Giga, only ones from a Raid.... that just takes away from the whole 'raise your Pokemon from the start of the game' appeal. Plus.... only one shot at catching a Giga, then you got to start the search again. Freaking Drednaw's broken out of a ultra ball 5 ****ing times now on the first shake.... yet I got Grimmsnarl and Butterfree straight away. My point is Gigamax shouldn't be restricted to Raid Pokemon, maybe give some actual meaning to Dynamax leveling and say when it's maxed your Corviknight can go Gigamax but before then it's just a giant Corviknight? But you can go and catch a Gigamax Pokemon if you'd rather skip all that?

Oh, and I'm not a fan of how it was mostly Kanto Pokemon..... at least Unova actually got something this time. But Kanto needs to take a seat!

Honestly I had those same thoughts of just how frustrating Gigantamax is in terms of how it's limited to the final stage, how it can only be obtained through Max Raids, how it's a variant of a Pokemon meaning not every Corvknight can't get it and how you only have one chance of catching until I found out that Gigantamax Pokemon are banned from Ranked Battles and by extension, it is going to be banned in a bunch of competitions in the future. Then I finally realized, Gigantamax is just GameFreak's answer for the lack of Legendary Pokemon you can catch. As soon as I found that out, I just gave up on Gigantamax.

 

[Phillies]

I have a problem with how Gigantamax was limited to basically Kanto and Galar, though.

Isn't that how it usually is. Kanto and the introducing region getting all the love in the initial games with the other regions getting theirs in the remake games. I'm willing to bet that when Diamond/Pearl remakes come out that there will be Sinnoh Gigantamax forms. There is also the possibility that they could add Johto ones in a Lets Go Johto game as well. Although that one I find less likely since they didn't add anything in Let's go Pikachu/Eevee.

 

[EmeraldArcanine]

I always liked them. Kaiju battles and all was a very fun idea when I saw it. And it seems way more balanced than Megas by a long shot since you can only have them for 3 turns, instead of a potentially overpowered mechanic the whole time you have that Pokemon alive. *CoughsMegasCoughs*

 

[CMButch]

Disliked them from beginning, disliked Giga more.But both started growing on me and Dynamax turned to be Ok but still worse than Z moves, but Giga is better than Z moves. Mega is still the best.
Mega > Giga > Z > Dyna

 

[Missingno.Fan]

To be blunt, I think it’s stupid. I loved Z-moves and was sad to see them go. This is basically mega evolutions with Z moves, but even lazier.

 

[Poptartsicle]

i dont like it, since beating the game all my fights are 5stars and im unable to find members to join me and very rarely ever get to join random ppls fights

 

[Erron Black]

I'm pretty positive it was only introduced as a way to bring Raids in.

Which... is all the wrong reasons to make it a whole new mechanic. It wasn't necessary imo, and I wish it just stayed exclusive to Max Raid Pokemon and maybe parts of the story?

I dunno, they definitely could've done Raids without making Dynamax it's own thing.

 

[shoz999]

i dont like it, since beating the game all my fights are 5stars and im unable to find members to join me and very rarely ever get to join random ppls fights

I was thinking more of where you utilize Dynamax mechanics in online multiplayer. Not Max Raid battles. That's because in online multiplayer, that's where you really get to fool around with Dynamax.

 

[Kataphrut]

I was disappointed that the Gigantimax forms are locked behind the raid bosses. I'm not sure if that was revealed ahead of time for not, but I was only half paying attention when they were marketing them. It sucks if you're someone like me who has Corviknight, Coalossal and Toxtricity , all obtained through the course of just playing the game, and not being able to access their cool unique forms unless I replace them with versions that can Gigantimax. It goes against the idea of making it so any Pokemon can be "the best" that they otherwise seemed to promote with the EV and IV training options and the nature mints.

They should make it so maxing out the Dynamax bar with candies lets your Pokemon access the form if they couldn't already. That would make those more useful as well.

At least Z moves and Mega evolutions could be used by anyone who had the appropriate item. And I think that says it all- Dynamax is just an attempt to combine Megas and Z moves and kind of fails at both. Changing any non-damage move to just being Protect was especially lazy and limiting. Basically, the only strategy you've got with Dynamax is to just hit them with your hardest attack.

 

[Ophie]

Right now, it seems like they're testing the waters with Dynamax and especially Gigantamax. If they keep the mechanic in the future, I can see them using it to boost unpopular Pokémon like they did with Mega Evolutions by giving powerful G-Max Moves to them, akin to Clangorous Soulblaze on Kommo-o as well as providing better effects to the existing ones.

I like Dynamaxing, by the way, because you can't tell right away who will Dynamax on someone's team. I like Mega Evolutions, but it meant you knew exactly what was going to happen if Mawile showed up, or Lopunny showed up, or Kangaskhan. (It was pretty funny how locked to their routines people were with Mega Kangaskhan. I trained a Cofagrigus as a Mega Kangaskhan counter. The smart thing to do against Cofagrigus is to use Scrappy since most Kangaskhans had Power-Up Punch and a Normal-type attacking move like Return. Instead, without fail, they all Mega Evolved Kangaskhan right away, removing their options by changing Scrappy into Parental Bond.)

Isn't that how it usually is. Kanto and the introducing region getting all the love in the initial games with the other regions getting theirs in the remake games. I'm willing to bet that when Diamond/Pearl remakes come out that there will be Sinnoh Gigantamax forms. There is also the possibility that they could add Johto ones in a Lets Go Johto game as well. Although that one I find less likely since they didn't add anything in Let's go Pikachu/Eevee.

I'm crossing my fingers for a Gigantamax Drifblim based on a blimp or zeppelin.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

I'm not a fan. I think just enlarging the pokémon is rather silly and it lacks the charm that Z-Moves had with the poses. Z-Moves also presented more options with the status Z-Moves for setup while dynamax just gives you Max Guard. And I also don't like how they're locking the gigantamaxes behind max raid battles. Right now tons of people are playing Sword and Shield and from what I gather people are still struggling with finding raid partners. That is going to severely hurt the longevity of this mechanic, as in a couple of months once the hype dies down and fewer people will be actively playing all day, it will be even harder to find raid partners, and in a year or two it will be nigh impossible and you will simply lose out on the mechanic (especially if you'd want Hidden Ability + Gigantamax). Despite their efforts to streamline the gateway to online play, this is just counterproductive. Back during the marketing cycles my predictions that the NPCs would be useless were often disregarded as doomsaying, but even I didn't predict the NPCs to be bringing Magikarp, that's worse than the Battle Agency did.

 

[1991]

I beat all gym leaders and the champion cup without Dynamax ung my Pokémon.

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

Legit a ton of fun, but severely overpowered in most situations. Honestly megas were more balanced which says a lot.

You also get pretty tired of flashy animations and how long both the transformation and the move animations take.